[PLUG-TALK] Re: [PLUG] Sounds good to me ;)

Jeme A Brelin jeme at brelin.net
Thu Jun 20 12:25:56 UTC 2002


On Wed, 19 Jun 2002, Craighead, Scot D wrote:
> You make some excellent points.  There is one group that has succeeded
> in "keeping the black man down".  They are a very insidious group.  
> They claim they are helping black Americans and blame conservatives
> for the situation that they cause.  They are the liberals.

I submit to you that true liberals haven't had a say in public policy in
over forty years... perhaps longer.  And they haven't been primary
motivating forces for almost two hundred years.

I'm referring to people who believe in classical liberalism as elaborated
by philosophers from (and including, most especially) Thomas Jefferson to
(and including, most especially) John Dewey.

> Anyone who tries anything to change this is labeled as a racist.

...or a radical (and now, possible domestic terrorist).

> The main way they hurt black people is by keeping the inner city
> schools in a state of complete failure. The adults that graduate from
> or frop out of these schools can't compete in the job market with
> those that graduate from better schools.

We had the same problem in Estacada, of course.  And that's about as white
a town as you can find.

> Furthermore, they create social programs that discourage marriage.  
> Being a single parent is one of the quickest ways to poverty there is
> in this country.

Being born black is probably the quickest.

The average white U.S. Citizen has more wealth at the time of his coming
of age (18th birthday) than a black U.S. Citizen is likely to ever accrue
at any one point in his lifetime.

> Why do they do this?  It is to keep their base of power.

You're making a distinction here that doesn't exist.  Whether you call
them "conservatives" or "liberals" is totally irrelevant.  People who try
to maintain the status quo (usually so they can maintain their own
accumulated power and wealth) are conservatives.  That's what the word
means.

How can you claim to be a conservative and want to construct a system that
redistributes wealth more equitably?

> They tell these same people that they must continue to vote for them
> or the evil republicans will take away the socialist services that
> they have become dependant on, like a drug.

It's definitely true that the poor and the brown are slavishly devoted to
the Democratic Party that has never done them a lick of good.  I did a
fair amount of campaigning in poor and minority neighborhoods in 2000 and
was shocked to find that although the ideals I espoused were the ideals of
the people in those neighborhoods and could demonstrate that the
Democratic candidate was opposed to those goals, the people still favored
the Democrat simply out of fear and party loyalty.

I'm really hoping (and somewhat surprised that it hasn't happened already)
that the Democratic Party will simply collapse or merge with the
Republican Party (where it belongs) so we can have some real political
debate in this country instead of the Party With Two Heads creating false,
meaningless choices for a confused and dispossessed electorate.

(What I'd REALLY like to see, but isn't ever going to happen, is a removal
of party affiliation from all voter materials including the ballot itself
and public financing of all campaigns.  But that kind of level playing
field is exactly what the existing power structure could absolutely not
withstand.)

> These people have truely been denied the American dream as they do not
> even know that the American dream is to be dependant on no one and to
> control your own destiny.

Well, then the American Dream is unattainable.  No man is an island unto
himself.  You are dependant on people whether you like it or not.

However, the ability to control's one's own destiny is an inate need in
all people.  It's not the American Dream.  It's older than the American
Dream.  It's older than America.  To call it the American Dream is to
steal the idea from all of the other people and cultures who have held it
as a fundamental goal throughout human history.  It is a dream that
belongs to all people of all time.

I hope to see it become a reality on a massive scale.  But as long as some
have the ability to amass inordinate power and wealth, that will not
happen.

J.
-- 
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     Jeme A Brelin
    jeme at brelin.net
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